The American entertainer and Christian Dior Muse, Josephine Baker is a Style Icon! Known as the "Black Pearl" she made a miniskirt of artificial bananas look unbelievably sexy in Paris circa 1925. Her pizazz and confidence was clearly seen in her effortless style. Her favorite on-stage accessory was a live pet cheetah wearing a diamond collar. How fancy is that? LOL. Josephine Baker is a Style Icon who continues to influence generations of stylistas and cultural historians. Read more about the Style Icon, below:
"Born in St. Louis Missouri in 1906, Baker left the United States in her late teens and became an overnight sensation in Paris after she performed on stage in the “savage dance”. Immediately after the semi-nude performance she appeared in an after-hours club in a gorgeous designer gown. Soon thereafter she was captured by artists, writers and photographers and was reputed to be the most photographed woman of her time. She was a woman that others wanted to imitate because her confidence and her beautiful dark complexion. Josephine Baker also influenced a hairstyle called the Eton Crop which was named after the way she wore her hair. The style was perfect for the cloche hat that was made popular by Josephine and still fashionable today. In the twenties Baker’s image was used to promote a hair pomade called Bakerfix which she created and a suntan lotion called Valaez cream, “so others could have a complexion just like Josephine”. Women admired Josephine Baker because of her confidence and fashion sense. According to an account in Ms. Baker’s adopted son, Jean Claude Baker’s book the Hungry Heart, even Marilyn Monroe was said to have dreamed of going to Paris to become a woman of culture and sophistication under Josephine’s tutelage.” Josephine Baker wore clothes created by the greatest fashion designers of the period, including Paul Poiret, Balenciaga, Chanel and Dior to name a few. One of her favorite passions was to wear matching clothing all the way down to her shoes which were dyed to match her ensemble. Long before Kimora Lee Simmons began collecting Louis Vuitton luggage, Josephine Baker was given hat boxes, shoeboxes, glove boxes, and multiple pieces of luggage all made for her by Louis Vuitton himself."
.......Couldn't have said it better!
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